Current state of the Swedish forest industry: layoffs rise as optimism fades

Sweden’s forest industry is ending the year under pressure, with sentiment falling, profitability weakening and layoff notices spreading across both sawmills and pulp & paper mills. After three difficult years marked by weak demand, exceptionally high log and pulpwood prices, tougher competition from China, U.S. trade barriers and a stronger Swedish krona, the sector shows little sign of near-term recovery. Sawmills lose confidence after a brief upswing According to the October business climate survey from the National Institute of Economic Research, the cautious optimism seen early in the year has vanished. Although sentiment has improved ...